1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to automated and/or semi-automated systems and methods for managing and/or facilitating transactions in which the services, endorsements, etc., of performing artists are offered to users or consumers of the same or sought by the latter.
2. Description of the Related Art
The performing arts include such fields as movies, films and cinematography, live theater productions, dance performances, television performances, television and other audiovisual advertising, radio, modeling, musical performances, and the like. Accordingly, performing artists, commonly referred to as “talent,” include such people as actors and actresses, models, dancers, radio personalities, musicians or recording artists, and the like.
In the entertainment industry and others involving performing arts, it is of course necessary for those who are in the business of enlisting the services of performing artists' services, referred to generally herein as “industry talent consumers,” to procure the services of performing artists. Similarly, it is necessary for performing artists to make themselves known to and available to these industry talent consumers.
From a demand perspective, industry talent consumers typically start with a “project” for which the services of one or more performing artists are needed. The project, for example, may comprise a movie, a television show, a commercial, a musical concert, and the like. As part of this project, there will be one or more “roles” that must be filled or satisfied by one or more performing artists. The industry talent consumer thus faces the need for high quality, highly skilled performing artists, who often must be uniquely qualified or suited for each of the roles in question, and of course must be available when needed. These often specific and unique needs sometimes arise suddenly, for example, as story lines or scripts change, as currently-enlisted performing artists become unavailable or unsuited for the role, etc.
In filling this demand, the industry talent consumer requires information about available performing artists. To obtain such information, it is generally necessary to first communicate information about the project and related roles so that the community of performing artists and their representatives are aware of the particular need for their services associated with the project. In traditional transactions involving performing artists, a common although merely illustrative scenario might involve the following circumstances. An industry talent consumer, having a new project with roles to be filled, provides notification to performing artists or their representative of this information. In the movie and television industries, for example, an announcement typically is made within the relevant performing arts community. This may involve notification by the producer of the producer's intent to make a new movie. The notice typically will include the nature of the movie, a summary of the plot, the characters or “roles” that will appear in the movie, etc. The notification typically will provide not only an identification of the role or roles to be filled, but also information on such role or roles. In the movie industry, this is commonly referred to as a “breakdown.” The notification may be directed to a specific performing artist or specific performing artists, it may be directed to a specific agency or agencies, it may be broadcast to the general community of performing artists in the field, etc.
From the supply perspective, the performing artists of course generally want their services to be in demand, and want to be enlisted to fill the choice roles available at any given time. There is a strong demand among actors and actresses, for example, to obtain parts or roles in movies, television shows, advertising, etc. Similarly, there is substantial demand among musicians and musical groups to obtain engagements in which they may perform. The same can be said for nearly every performing arts field. The competition for choice roles can be and often is substantial. The movie and television (“TV”) industries, for example, generally are characterized by having a very large number of performing artists who are vying for a relatively limited number of performance opportunities. Many more people would like to have starring roles in movies each year, for example, than there are starring roles available. Only a select number of performing artists are actually able to command these limited number of roles. It is necessary, therefore, as a practical matter in the performing arts fields, for performing artists to make themselves known to industry talent consumers.
To meet this need among performing artists to market themselves effectively, it has long been a custom in these industries that the performing artists compile information about themselves, referred to generally herein as “talent information,” often in the form of a “portfolio,” suitable for presentation to the industry talent consumers. The specific talent information that is compiled in a given instance depends upon the industry, the particular artist, his or her experience or credits, and potentially a host of other factors. In the movie, television, and like industries, for example, the talent information typically includes a front facial photograph (a “headshot”), a resume, and in some cases video or audio segments of the performing artist that demonstrate his or her performing abilities. In the radio industry, the talent information may comprise audio segments of the artist. In the modeling industry, the talent information typically comprises a photographic portfolio demonstrating the model in various settings, poses, etc.
It is common in the performing arts for the performing artist or talent to enlist the services of one or more talent representatives, such as talent agents, talent agencies, managers or the like. These representatives typically are individuals who are knowledgeable about the industry, and who typically have significant personal contacts with or otherwise have favorable access to the talent information users. Talent agents in the movie and television industries, for example, would be expected to know or at least have access to producers, directors, casting directors, studios, and other people and organizations who seek the services of performing artists. Accordingly, as part of the information flow, it is necessary to accommodate the roles and information flow requirements associated with these representative entities.
When a performing artist or his or her representative learns of the availability of a new role, it is important to submit talent information on the performing artist, in hopes of securing the role for that artist. It many cases it is critically important to respond as quickly as possible. This communication of talent information is known in some performing arts fields as a “submission.” The submission may comprise the entire portfolio for that artist, but in many cases it comprises a selected portion of the portfolio specifically tailored to address the particular role at hand, and to maximize the interest of the industry talent user in that performing artist. This selected talent information may include, for example, photographs of the performing artist, sample film or video segments demonstrating the artist's acting ability, written information concerning the artists, e.g., such as other movies, plays, etc. in which the performing artist has performed, (e.g., (“credits”), audio segments that provide exemplars of the performing artist's voice, speech quality, command of the language, accent, etc., the availability of the performing artist, and the like. In a typical situation, the talent representative for the performing artist will draw from materials available to him or her to compile a collection of information on the performing artist suitable under the circumstances. This information is put into a form suitable for presentation to the user, and it is then physically transported to the user for consideration. Once the submission is made, the recipient can inspect and consider the materials and make an assessment as to whether the proposed performing artist is suitable for the role in question. Where there is a competition for the role, as is common, the submission may be used to aid in further analysis to determine which one among the various candidate performing artists is most suitable or desirable and will receive an award of the role.
Known approaches to these techniques of managing, compiling, submitting and using talent information regarding performing artists have been limited in a number of senses. Perhaps the most pronounced limitation resides in the fact that access to the talent information users typically is limited. The demands for access to talent information users, such as producers, casting directors, booking agents and the like typically is substantial. It is common for there to be many more performing artists, and aspiring performing artists, than there are talent information users. Moreover, talent information users often are not inclined to spend the potentially substantial resources of time, energy and money to evaluate a previously unknown performing artist. In addition, they commonly do not wish to be required to spend the resources to eliminate potentially large numbers of performing artists who are not appropriately qualified, not desirable under the circumstances, etc.
Another limitation lies in the potentially substantial logistical requirements and resource requirements involved in preparing and delivering performing artist information to the talent information user in a suitable form, e.g., in an attractive submission that is specifically tailored to the needs of the talent information user.
Another limitation of known approaches and techniques lies in the fact that many performing artists, particularly the very well known and popular established performing artists, do not always want their information shared, distributed, or otherwise provided to anyone other than specifically authorized talent information users. This is a common circumstance for well known actors who wish to maintain positive and vigilant control over access by the public to the actor's image, likeness, etc. Talent agents and agencies similarly generally do not want their information, e.g., the information of their clients, shared or otherwise accessed or used without specific authorization. This also includes the common desire among agencies for their talent information to be kept exclusive, and not provided to other agents or agencies not within or affiliated with their agency.
With the emergence of wide area networks such as the Internet and the World Wide Web, a number of sites have arisen that are intended to provide performing artists information. Some of these sites provide talent or performing artist information regarding performing artists who have subscribed to the site. The information on these sites is generally accessible to certain talent information users, so that any talent information user may access any talent file on the site. This is problematic in some situations in that it does not afford a satisfactory level of privacy and access control required by some talent information providers. Moreover, such sites typically do not permit subscribers to be organizations, or do not permit organizations to have control over such things as who is to be given access to their talent files.